This invention relates to a hepatic isolation and perfusion circuit assembly and, more particularly, to a blood circuit for isolating the liver's blood circulation from the blood circulation of the rest of the body, and connecting the liver's circulation to a heart-lung machine and a source of cancericidal chemotherapy agents, thereby permitting perfusion of the liver (of a patient which has become involved with cancer) with extremely high doses of the chemotherapy agents, and yet at the same time avoiding the toxic effects of these agents on the body as a whole.
At present there is no effective means of treating patients with primary or metastatic cancer involving the liver. As a result, approximately 10,000-15,000 human patients die yearly with primary liver cancer or isolated hepatic metastases.
My inventive circuit will allow cancericidal doses of drugs to be delivered to liver cancers without undue general toxic effects to the patient and, thereby, prolonging the life and the quality of life of the patient.
I have, thereby, significantly advanced the state-of-the-art.